Alcoholism to me is like being a junkie, you wake up in the morning and need a fix, you have withdraw symptoms etc.
I don't consider myself to ever have been an alcoholic, however did have a problem with booze in that I drank everyday til I was wasted, but never had withdraw, never affected how I functioned and never drank in the morning (unless it was the weekend) but that was before I had a child so who cares if that is how I behaved no responsibilities no consequences, I used to have hard drugs problems that were completely different.
I just took some time out when my son was born chilled out and stopped drinking for about 6 months. im more a binge drinker.